Christmas In 19th Century California

Culinary Historians of San Diego will present “Christmas in 19th Century California,” featuring Richard Foss, at 10:30 am November 17 in the Neil Morgan Auditorium of the San Diego Central Library, 330 Park Blvd. Foss will explain how our early forebears celebrated the Christmas feast quite differently than we do today, describing traditions from the days of the conquistadors and the pilgrims, and how a short story and a German prince influenced the way we celebrate in California today.

Richard Foss has been writing professionally since 1986 when he started reviewing restaurants for the Los Angeles Reader. Since then he has contributed to over twenty different publications, including the Encyclopedia of World Food Cultures and the Oxford Companion to Sweets. He taught “500 Years of American Food” and “America Fermented” at Other Institute/UCLA Extension, is on the board of the Culinary Historians of Southern California, and is the California Curator for the Museum of the American Cocktail and the Pacific Food & Beverage Museum. His book on the history of rum was released by Reaktion Books in 2012, followed by his “Food in the Air and Space; the surprising history of food and drink in the skies” in 2014. Currently, Foss is curating exhibitions about food and drink for the Autry Museum of the American West for its 2020-21 season.

The event is free and open to the public. A tasting will follow the presentation.